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This ruff guide concentrates on the policies adopted toward the sport, physical activity and sport development spheres by the 'New Labour' government elected in the United Kingdom in 1997. These policies are both an example and a reflection of the wider political agenda of that government and particularly those of a typically European "social inclusion" and "social contract" flavour. Other historical (and political) approaches are covered elsewhere on the website.
New Labour's policy on sport development and physical activity policy begins with "social inclusion" at its heart. For a more detailed introduction to social exclusion / inclusion please click here to access our "rough guide" to social exclusion.
This "social inclusion" agenda was not limited to sport.
Developed from a cmnd paper; 'Bringing Britain Together - a National strategy for neighbourhood renewal' (Cabinet Office 1997) some 18 working groups, called Policy Action Teams, were established in 1998 to develop a range of strategies in a variety of social areas directed at tackling social exclusion in British society, combating social exclusion therefore was designed as a 'crosscutting' political agenda. Sport and the Arts' potential contribution was detailed in a report from the Policy Action Team 10 (Ten), commonly known as PAT 10.
The PAT 10 report made the claim that;
"because of its wide popularity and inherent properties, sport can contribute to neighbourhood renewal by improving communities performance on four key indicators;
PAT 10, and the research by Collins et al that underpinned it, have become the domain assumptions of National and local sport development policies and initiatives at a practice level, in academia the claims made by PAT 10 have spawned research and shaped curricula at a variety of qualification levels. In essence and since 1998, PAT 10 has become the glue that binds sport development together.
The various sports councils, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, each independent of government and established under Royal Charter from 1972 onwards (international readers may be interested in the fact that these organisations, whilst being the lead bodies in sport are in fact independent of government although are funded by it - based on the recommendations of the 1960 Wolfenden Report - Sport in the Community, commissioned by the Central Council of Physical Recreation - CCPR) developed sport development strategies responding to PAT 10's social exclusion agenda.
In the English context the "English Sports Council" renamed from "The Sports Council" and now branded as "Sport England" having produced "England the Sporting Nation" in 1997, developed a document in 2000 and in light of PAT 10 called "A sporting future for all" and began to focus on the agenda (in part) provided by PAT 10. This document was the subject of a conference in 2000 in London called the "English Sports Summit".
The Government in the form of the New Labour's Department for Culture Media and Sport - (DCMS) published an action plan in 2001 entitled called "The Government's Plan for Sport"
The importance that sport and physical activity had now been afforded in terms of a wider "social inclusion" government political agenda provided a motivation for probably the most comprehensive government (Strategy Unit / DCMS) sport policy document in recent times: SEU/DCMS (2002) Game Plan A Strategy for delivering government's sport and physical activity objectives: London. Cabinet Office.
Game Plan, as it is popularly known, led to the reorganisation of the English Sports Council (Sport England) and a refocusing of its operation toward a strategic level rather than delivery (it owned the initiative of Active Sports facilitated by the County Sports Partnerships - delivering sport at local levels). Government required Sport England to become more strategic and to deliver government's wider agenda of regional devolution. Those requirements remain in process for Sport England who established Regional Sports Boards to devolve lottery funding at a regional level and to return an amount of authority for sports funding and development to the regions, not seen since 1968 and the regional structure of the CCPR. On June 25th, 2003 Sport England archived its website, replacing it with another and with significant deletions - including its minutes of meetings - stating that;
"Sport England is currently implementing a radical modernisation programme and developing a new strategy for sport. This 'interim' website gives you an update on the current situation and helps to bridge the gap between the old and new organisation. Work is underway to launch a brand new site in the Autumn, which will reflect the new Sport England." (Sport England website, 2003)
The replacement site signalled a clear statement of policy change (as did the slimming down of its workforce) in Sport England toward a more strategic role in sport development, toward regional devolution and away from a delivery role in the for of the Active Sports initiative, each of these being recommendations (some explicit and some implied) in the text of Game Plan.
In 2004 Sport England produced the "National Framework for Sport In England", supplemented by similar documents developed by the regions on a fairly rigid framework closely associated with the government's policy agenda developed through PAT 10. Almost exclusively these regional policy documents are mirrors of the National Framework with the notable exception of that produced by the North-west a region that has a long tradition in sport development icebreaking and individuality. The National framework was advised by a collection of desk studies that formed the 2004 document; Driving up participation: The challenge for sport (Sport England)
Under New Labour, Sport England have produced a number of framework documents, in 1997 it was England the Sporting Nation, in 2000 - A Sporting Future for All and in 2004 the National Framework for Sport in England. The home country sports councils have produced similar documents appropriate to their countries. During this time the British Government in Westminster have produced The Government's Plan for Sport in 2001, various reviews that have culminated in Game Plan (and its own reviews / updates).
Central to each and all of these documents (post 1999) is the research that underpinned the statements made in PAT 10. This research, developed by the then Loughborough University 'think tank' of Collins, Houlihan, Henry and Buller has in essence, become both the practice and values framework for sport development in the United Kingdom. Seated almost entirely in the social democratic values of combating social exclusion in order to further develop society ( based on equality and social justice - a very european ideology) this work, which resulted in the PAT 10 report has provided a framework for the development of sport development profession supported by all concerned at a level seen only once before (and in a different context) in the form of the 1960 publication; Sport in the Community: London. CCPR, known as the Wolfenden report.
Sports Councils' publications often provide indicators in sport development to the; Who, Where and What... yet Collins et al have begun the process of developing the "Why"..... it is the "Why" that reveals the values associated with and that which underpin the sport development profession!
The most recent literature review about the evidence base for Culture, The Arts and Sports Policy is available here published by the Scottish Executive [2004]
Other relevant Rough Guides;
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